Writing Life

May 13 2020

Let’s Be Positive!

Elaine CouglerWriting Life writing journey

Never has there been in my lifetime a point when Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking idea has resonated so much. Every TV channel pounds away at Covid-19 stories, most of them negative. All the news stations are giving the statistics of how many cases there are, how many have died, and how many nursing homes are in dire straits.

Yes, we are part of a larger community and we need to know what is happening. As John Donne said, “Never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee” as he talked about our being part of a whole and not just individuals with no thought to our neighbours. And I believe that.

What I don’t believe in is hammering away at negativity 24/7.

Human beings are meant to be happy (my takeaway from a book I read years ago) and I work hard to stay that way. I’ve had my share of bad things happen, the worst of which was suffering a number of strokes in my forties. How I recovered mentally and physically was by cutting out the negative stuff and actively filling my life with positives.

So I spend my day shutting out the negatives that I can’t change. I turn off the television, I choose uplifting reading, and I surround myself with positive people.

Here are some of the good things that I’ve noticed since this Covid-19 crisis swooped in on the world:

Positive messages thanking our caregivers everywhere we look.
The sky is blue, blue, blue.
People are out walking, distancing to care for each other, and singing free online concerts.
My days are not nearly so hectic as in pre-covid times.
I’m writing a prequel to my Loyalist trilogy and loving it!
My husband and I are making wonderful meals and loving them. We do miss eating out but some recipes I’m making we haven’t had for years. (See my own creation below Elaine’s Banana Oatmeal Muffins)

To give my readers the chance to read positive books, I chose to be part of 3 Booksweeps contests coming up. Keep watching for these as free books are part of the deal. I’ll announce each of the three in my twice monthly newsletter. (Sign up here on the left side of the page.)

They start May 25, June 8 and June 22. Join me!

Another positive is that you can help quash those trolls who are stealing authors’ books and giving them away free online. This has happened to me many times. I use software to see if my titles are mentioned anywhere on the web and I’ve found them stolen more times than I can count. Even my name and my book write-ups are taken. We need to go after these people. I’m asking for your help. Here is a link where you can sign a petition to shut down one of these sites. I hope you will.

Please join the Authors Guild in signing this open letter to the Internet Archive calling for the immediate shut down of the National Emergency Library. The National Emergency Library is piracy, pure and simple, no matter how the Internet Archive and its founder Brewster Kahle cloak it as a social benefit. Making hundreds of thousands of copyrighted books available for download is theft. It is illegal and it needs to be shut down.

Can you join me and take action? Click here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/sign-our-open-letter-to-internet-archive-to-shut-down-the-so-called-national-emergency-library?source=email&

Thanks!

And now, as promised, my very own recipe for

Elaine’s Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Sift together:

1 c. all purpose flour, 1/4 c. sugar, 3 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt

Add:

1/2 c. coconut, 1 c. quick-cooking rolled oats

In a separate bowl, mix:

1 slightly beaten egg, 1 c. milk, 1 tsp. almond extract, 3 T. salad oil

Add to dry ingredients, stirring just to moisten. At the same time, add 2 crushed ripe bananas. Fill 12 greased muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake at 425 for about 15 minutes. Yummy!

Don’t forget about The Man Behind the Marathons

Audio Book Coming Soon

March 11 2020

The Ultimate Author Reading—An Audiobook!

Elaine CouglerAudio Books, The Man Behind the Marathons, Writing Life audio books

Elaine: “Can you hear me?…Jack?…Are you there?”

………

Jack: “Elaine?…We can start now….GO!”

Elaine: “Chapter One………On October 15, 1979, Ron Calhoun received a surprising call…”

On December 10, 2019, I sat in my good friend Jack London’s recording studio and we started to work on my fourth book. We had already recorded and posted with ACX Audible the three books of my Loyalist trilogy and I was anxious to put this one in the can as well.

In the photo above I am sitting in the tiny sound booth, my iPad open to The Man Behind the Marathons resting on the music stand before me and all connected to headphones in front of a great mic. The room is cosy this night, the little heater silently warming me as I sit on the high-backed stool and immerse myself in the story.

My iPad sticks magnetically to the metal music stand so that we don’t have to worry about me dropping it to the floor. A fresh water bottle is waiting for me when I arrive each night, and I take sips often to keep my voice lubricated. We take breaks when needed.

I’m excited. Jack is, too. We both know the drill. He runs the recording equipment, a bank of screens and squiggly lines that he somehow understands exactly how to operate.

I sit in the studio and try to keep my thoughts focused on the words before me. I imagine I’m performing at an author reading. There are real people out there and–ever the entertainer–I put life into the voices of the different characters and the narrator who is telling this wonderful story.

I keep self doubts at bay by remembering how audiences seem to love my reading; in fact, one librarian told me that, when I had left them one night after a reading, everyone agreed they could listen to me read the whole book! That gave me the courage to record all of my books myself. My hope is that listeners will have an extra bit of enjoyment knowing that the author is doing the reading.

Here is Jack posing for the photographer before we start the actual recording one night. You can see some of his recording equipment but certainly not all of it.

Jack is a singer/songwriter himself as well as the owner and master of his recording studio. He’s a little like me that way. When he wants to do something he just figures it out and goes ahead. He is a tireless worker and quite the perfectionist, both as a singer and a technician. He hears every little snuffle, strangely pronounced word, motion of my foot on the stool, clearing of the throat and I don’t know what all. And he stops me. He wants the recording to be perfect. It is Jack’s voice you hear doing the intros etc. on all of my audio books. Have a listen. It’s the most mellow sound you’ll ever hear!

A great big thank you always goes out to Jack!

In this final photo we have set up the shot to show where we both are during recording. Of course when actually recording, the sliding door is closed tightly and the sound muffling curtains are closed. I am shut into my booth and no sound gets in from outside. That is what makes the recording so clean. Thanks to my husband, Ron, who took these shots before one of our recording sessions a few weeks ago.

There are other ways to get your books out on Audible which, by the way, is connected to Amazon so that your audio books are listed as options just as Kindle ebooks are. Here is one of my books (The Loyalist’s Wife) where you can see that.

Audible and ACX are connected so that when you want your books on Audible, you go through ACX. You can upload your own files or you can search for someone on their site who will read/record your book for you. Apparently you can hear demos but I’ve not done this. Choose whichever way makes sense for your situation.

My message to other authors and performers is obviously that you may very well be able to do this. Of course there is a cost and I’ll let you talk to your audio person about that. For the listener having the author read her own books is kind of exciting people tell me. That coupled with my desire to live up to that old 4-H motto I learned so many years ago–Learn to do by doing–has helped me through much of my writing journey.

The Man Behind the Marathons audio book will be coming in the next weeks. In the meantime here is a link to my trilogy audio books on Amazon. Notice that if you are a new Audible member, you can get your first book free! Pick mine, please! And don’t forget to write me a short review on Amazon and Goodreads.

October 9 2019

The Loyalists in Ontario

Elaine CouglerFor Readers, History Bits, Writing Life American Revolution, Canadian history, historical fiction, The Loyalist Trilogy, writing journey

In the latter part of August, my husband and I took a trip to Gananoque, Ontario to see a performance at the theatre there. My sister was one of the actors; hence, our trip to that lovely part of Ontario. On the way, we detoured through Prince Edward County and boarded the Glenora ferry, pictured below.

The ferry goes about every 15 minutes in the summer so our wait was not too long, even though lots of cars were lined up. We filled in the time enjoying the waterfront.

Many sailboats and other craft used the waterway which we had to cross to get to Adolphustown on the road to Kingston, Ontario.

This is Loyalist country and I got to see a U.E.L. cemetery along the way. Here is the Loyalist flag flying above the cemetery which is enclosed by a beautiful metal fence. In the distance you can see the stones of many of the Loyalists buried there. The stones have been cemented into a long monument as a way of preserving this history.

A few of the stones stand on their own.

Here’s a closer view of the fence and of the stones.

I was intrigued by the wording on this sign telling of the coming of the Loyalists to the Kingston area. For my Loyalist trilogy I started the first book in 1778 during the American Revolutionary War that precipitated the flight to Canada of those loyal to Britain, from what had been the Thirteen Colonies and became the United States.

Here is another view of the monument and stones.

Many of the women in those times died early from childbirth and several of the stones showed how young these women were.

The stone below tells the story of a mother dying, presumably in birthing the child who died two months later.

This stone memorializes a “much loved wife”. She lived to be 51 so presumably either didn’t have children or survived that ordeal.

This stone reminds us that though a multitude of stones remain across our land, many markers made of wood have disappeared over the years.

The Frontenac, the first steamship on Lake Ontario, was built near Kingston in the early 1800’s. The sign below and the Canadian Encyclopedia shed light on the ship’s history. I was intrigued to learn that the population of Upper Canada was too small for the ship to make much money and it was about to be scrapped when an arsonist burned it.

This, too, is part of our early Ontario history and the plaque below is near the Loyalist cemetery.

Preserving our Ontario history has become very important to me. Whenever I find efforts to do just that I am thrilled. Those who came before us would be pleased, too.

For my take on the Loyalists, try my Loyalist Trilogy, linked below.

September 11 2019

Rules For Teachers and the Changing Nature of Society

Elaine CouglerFor Readers, History Bits, Writing Life

In August my husband and I happened to be in Grand Bend, Ontario, so named because of the large bend in Lake Huron right where Grand Bend is located. We had a couple of hours before our theatre event so tried a new restaurant, The Schoolhouse Restaurant. It was really good.

The old school kitch was cute, too, especially this framed list of rules for teachers in 1915. Note that this is from a West Virginia Board of Education:

I’m sure our rules here in Ontario were just as restrictive. The most interesting thing to me is the fact that all of the teachers must have been men unless the males wore dresses!

Isn’t history fun?

I certainly have fun writing my historical novels!

For historical fiction about an earlier time period, try my Loyalist trilogy!

Click image to purchase on Amazon. Available in print, ebook and audio formats.

August 18 2019

Sharon Clare’s In For a Spell Newly Launched!

Elaine CouglerWriting Life In For A Spell, Sharon Clare

NOTE: I had intended to post this review on the launch day for In For a Spell but my WordPress decided that I should not be allowed to actually have any of my posts showing on my website. Fixing this has been a nightmare. It seems many people are flummoxed by similar problems and several professionals could not solve the problem. Finally my daughter put me on to a clever lady in Victoria and, once we sorted out passwords and logins, Niki got me back up and running. It’s been about two months! Thanks so much to Niki.

And now the actual post–

Here’s a little taste of some romance, just for a change of pace. Sharon Clare is a lovely writer whom I’ve known since a course we both took a few years ago. She’s a clever and imaginative marketer and, this year, I’ve hired her to do the cover for my latest book, The Man Behind the Marathons. Her work is some of the best I’ve seen.

Sharon Clare’s In For A Spell launched in June follows along beautifully the path set by her previous novels. The mischievous elf, Finn, appears here again and is up to his usual tricks but this time with a twist. He seems to be delving further into just what humans are like.

In true romance style Clare depicts a sexy hero and an interesting heroine but adds Finn’s magic to leave the reader wondering just what will happen with the two major characters. This book is a light romp which manages to teach us a little about time travel and a world from a few hundred years ago. Enjoyable, for sure!

For a look at the other books in the talented Sharon Clare’s extensive library take a trip to her website.

Thanks again, Sharon, for this wonderful cover!

June 13 2019

Marketing Your Brand New Book–5 Great Ideas to Try

Elaine CouglerFor authors, The Man Behind the Marathon, Writing Life Ron Calhoun, selling books, The Man Behind the Marathon

Having a successful book does not just mean writing it. We all know how important that is but visions of the back closet filled with boxes of books haunt all of us. Every writer needs to find ways to get that book of theirs into as many hands as possible. Here are a few suggestions that I’ve found worked for me.

5 Proven Ideas for Selling Books

Get over your shyness and talk about your work. With my first book I made sure I always had a copy in my purse and a box of books in my car. People couldn’t wait to see what I had written. Gone were the times when I was too shy or humble to talk about being a writer. When you get a question like ‘what are you up to these days?’ recognize that opens the door to your excitement about your new book. So much better than talking about the weather!

From that first foray into telling people about my books I moved to speaking gigs. At first groups called me but when I saw how many books I sold I started offering my speaking services by calling or emailing them. At each one of those gigs, I always set up an attractive display with books, a banner, and sign-ups for my twice monthly newsletter. If it’s a large group I give a free book to someone at the back of the room–maybe it’s for the person who reads historical fiction or who came the farthest to hear me or who answers some question I make up. The point is as I pass the book back to the back of the room all of those passing it have a chance to hold the book and, hopefully, wish they had one of their own.

Prepare your books in various formats. First, I concentrated on finishing the print version and had it ‘perfect bound’ with a great cover. Immediately I researched and settled on two types of e-books: Kindle because it is the giant Amazon’s e-book format and Kobo because at the time I learned that it had 18% of the market in Canada and I live in Canada. Never one to pass up a new idea, I met a clever fellow who lives in the same city as I do but who is a legends singer (John Denver and Glen Campbell among others) so he has a recording studio in his home. Jack London is a dead ringer for John Denver and sings his songs so well. He and I recorded all of my trilogy in his studio and I put them up on Audible.

My book which is currently just finished (ten days until the first launch) is The Man Behind the Marathons: How Ron Calhoun Helped Terry Fox and Other Heroes Make Millions for Charity.

This book has its own following because of the famous and semi-famous people I wrote about. My challenge is to capitalize on all of that by telling never-before-told stories that link to heroes we know and some we don’t. I try to hone in on that quality in all of us that recognizes good in others. I’m not interested in denigrating anyone and have told the story as it has been told to me by Ron Calhoun. For most of the 86 years of his life he has been a consummate volunteer.

There are several launches and speaking gigs planned with more joining the list every day. The next six months are going to be wonderfully busy with interviews, workshops, speaking gigs and book sales. I love it all!

And now for the best idea of all! Sell your books in large quantities. This could be a whole post itself as there are many ways to try to achieve sales in large numbers to one buyer. I sold many copies to one company because my book fits in well with their theme at Sports Discovery Camp. All of these people who walked, ran, or “Fox-trotted” across this country had to be fantastic marathoners to achieve their goals so the theme fits in well with Sports Discovery Camp, a division of STEM Camp here in Canada. Here is the ad they used.

Coming soon to Amazon print and Kindle e-books as well as Kobo e-books.

June 5 2019

The Fun Part!

Elaine CouglerWriting Life

For every author there are the months and months–in my case, with this book, twenty-two–when the end seems far over the distant hills, almost an insurmountable distance to travel. As in most tasks, though, my lifelong habit of just doing a little every day has brought The Man Behind the Marathons to completion.

I received the first few books last Friday.

Over the next two weeks the rest of my order will be arriving and I’ll have lots to fill all the requests accumulated so far. Thanks so much to all those who have encouraged me to carry on with this story of Ron Calhoun. Those excited emails and comments have made all the difference.

I hope those of you who are close enough will come out to the first major launch on June 24th. My husband and I chose that date to honour Ron Calhoun whose 86th birthday that will be. Here is the open invitation:

Please join us and help us celebrate!

May 8 2019

When Writing Catastrophes Happen

Elaine CouglerThe Man Behind the Marathon, Writing Life narrative non-fiction, Ron Calhoun, The Man Behind the Marathon, writing manuscripts

My edits for The Man Behind the Marathon

So. There I was feeling proud of myself because my finished manuscript was safely in the hands of my interior book designer. She is in Paris, France, but with the wonder of technology she seems to be right beside me in my office.

Her job is to help me pick out a font, a font size, a size for the finished book, margins, white space, and to know about everything my printer and cover designer do so that my final book comes out looking perfect .

I’ve used Shelley on my previous books and she knows her stuff. She’s saved me from having a finished product that I’d rather toss in the garbage than haul out and put on my sales table at my speaking events. Shelley is awesome!

Last Friday bright and early in the morning I sent Shelley the beginning pages, the end pages and the final manuscript itself just in time for her to work her magic. Sure enough, on Monday morning two emails came into my InBox, the first third of my book set up for me to check. Excited, I went right at it and found 6 pages with edits to be made. I didn’t send them right away as the phone rang.

On the other end was the subject of my book, the wonderful Ron Calhoun. He needed to book a time with me for corrections he had found in the mss copy I’d given him last Friday night. Now, Ron checked the manuscript for factual errors six months ago so I was surprised. We agreed to chat Tuesday afternoon.

I held on to the corrected pages that were all ready to copy and send to Shelley via Dropbox.

On Tuesday Ron and I worked for over an hour and a half over the phone as he gave me edits. He found some things that I definitely wanted changed and many that he wanted changed. He suggested a couple of edits that would save us from lawsuits. He noted completely wrong names. He went on and on for the duration of the call as I tried to make his suggested changes in red so that I could come back and think about them after the call.

Most of the edits I agreed to, some I refused and one I flat out said no. He wanted me to soften my words about his job responsibilities with General Motors; I said that sentence absolutely had to stay. The man is so humble!

This morning I worked through all the edits for two hours, reorganized the pages I had to copy for Shelley and made note of all the edits I’d made to the manuscript. I’ve learned in the past to update the manuscript because every once in a while someone needs your mss in Word for a contest or something.

The edited pages, eleven of them out of fifty, are on Dropbox for Shelley. I’ve made copious notes about my process so I won’t forget what I’ve done and I now just have to wait for Shelley.

What have I learned? Even though your subject has approved your work earlier, you better make sure to check the facts with them with the final manuscript. I’m so glad I did but I could have saved myself a lot of last-minute agony if I’d done this a couple of weeks ago.

Not to worry. The book is still on schedule and I expect to have lovely copies complete with 28 pictures and a fabulous story for the early part of June.

Now on to planning the ebooks!

The Man Behind the Marathon: How Ron Calhoun Helped Terry Fox and Other Heroes Make Millions for Charity

Join us for the fabulous launch June 24, 2019, at the Lamplighter Inn, Wellington Street, London, Ontario at 7 pm. It’s going to be a blast!

March 28 2019

Motivation: Staying Positive to Reach Your Stars

Elaine CouglerAudio Books, For authors, Writing Life audio books, motivation, Ron Calhoun, The Loyalist Trilogy, The Man Behind the Marathon

Potential For Greatness Fob www.pyrrha.com

Over the past twelve years, I’ve learned a lot about the writing world at conferences in large cities, at various writers group meetings and sitting right in my desk chair in front of my own computer. My journey has taught me to mostly count on myself and to always be true to what I want, to what I need and to what I am continually seeking.

One of the things that has helped me along the way to launching the three books of The Loyalist Trilogy and very soon The Man Behind the Marathons is using positive thinking. Oh, I do experience those middle-of-the-night doubts as most of us do, but I’ve learned to recognize them for what they are–my subconscious wanting to have a bigger say in how I lead my life. No way should we ever let that happen.

Early in my writing journey my adult daughter sent me a wonderful gift. She sent me the same necklace (pictured above) that she bought for herself, so I suppose it’s no surprise that today she is writing her first book and plans to have the rough draft finished by the end of June. Here is the descriptive note included with the necklace:

Potential for Greatness: The oak tree is an emblem of strength, endurance and prosperity. The acorn signifies potential, power and luck.

What a rewarding message that was when I was starting out and still now as I am launching my fourth book. I come back to it over and over.

Another positive message I have on my desk is my coaster for my water glass. As you can see it’s been with me long enough to be stained and worn but I rely on this message. I’ll never toss it out into the garbage. This quote from 19th century writer, George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) means more and more to me as the birthdays pile up.

You might think I put this one in just for a laugh. “She shines in beauty” might have been more apt a lot of years ago, but this mug was a gift from my nephews when they were very young. It tells me about my name, mostly, but also makes me think of all the people who love me. This is a certain mood lifter!

On the top of my credenza my mother, as she looked a few years before she left us, reminds me to always do my best. She was a perfect role model, a woman who gave her life to other people and taught me and my many siblings to do the same. I only wish she were here to see and read my books as she was a voracious reader; she died before I started down this wonderful journey of writing so she never knew about this joyous writing path I’ve taken. Reading was one of the things we loved to discuss. I treasure the books I got from her library after she died; it’s like a little of her essence is on them still.

When I was talking this post over with my daughter, she told me about this message on her desk: Say no to everything that doesn’t make your heart sing. What would our lives be like if we did that? Staying positive would be a lot easier, I think. After all, we are meant to be happy, or didn’t you read The Secret?

Because I’ve learned to keep my focus on my dream, I’m looking forward to my new book launching in June.

Note: The title became The Man Behind the Marathons: How Ron Calhoun Helped Terry Fox and Other Heroes Make Millions for Charity.

I’ve spent the last two years interviewing Ron Calhoun and writing three drafts of this book. It’s creative non-fiction so that was a new type of book for me. Writing this has been a struggle at times but, overall, a really great experience. I learned so much about Ron Calhoun and each of the journeys he masterminded. I also learned a lot about creative non-fiction and the nuances it allows the writer to put into a true story. Very cool.

The launch is in June. More about that later. For now here are my three books from my Loyalist trilogy. Seeing them completed and out in the world as print, electronic and, most recently, audio books helps me keep going on those difficult days. They are another positive influence, helping me reach my own stars.

the-man-behind-the-marathon-final-ebook-cover-final copy

March 5 2019

Marketing Before Launching?